Dust and Echoes
by BrokenArrow411
Summary: Every war has its share of sacrifices and for many of those fighting in the Human-Covenant War, those sacrifices often hit too close to home...and this Marine is no exception. One-shot.


**If you've seen it somewhere else, I don't own it**

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It's been a long time, hasn't it? I remember the time before all this, before the War, before the death, before the screams. I remember the sparkling eyes and dimpled cheeks of our youth, the friendship made on the school ground where we shared our younger days. It was more than I could've ever asked for, more than anyone could've asked for; a stable home, a good friend…you do remember, don't you?...

Of course you do, you always were the smart one, you always remembered the little things, my favorite mix of hot cocoa on a cold winter's day, and you always remembered my birthday, even though I could never seem to recall yours. What did I ever do to deserve you, huh? I was a military kid, my father was a Marine, we never stayed in one place long enough to truly belong and yet, to you it didn't matter. You reached out to me, even though you knew what I represented, you knew what your parents would have thought about us. I remember asking about it once…about us, but you said it didn't matter to you…it didn't matter who my dad was or where I came from or what I looked like. What mattered to you was that I am who I am, and that was enough for you. I couldn't grasp the concept, the silent sneers and whispered words of those around us compelling me to believe otherwise and yet…you never changed. You made me belong.

Even as we grew older and the time came for us to part, me to the Academy and you to the college at home, you still stayed true to me. You said you'd wait. You said you didn't care what I'd become or what your parents would have thought, you'd stay with me anyways. I cherished those last few weeks in that summer of 2524, the last time we could be for years to come. Then came the separation, four years of time apart, countless calls and messages sent between us, all to dull the ache that you left…and to remind me that you were still there. The years slowly went by until I could finally see the end, anxiously waiting for the time when I could see you again.

The time came. Graduation arrived and past. I prepared to go home, to my family…to you…

…but then we heard the truth…we were not alone.

We were called out immediately, assigned to the places that needed us most. I became a Marine, a freshly-minted lieutenant, posted to command a platoon of soldiers whose age and experience far outmatched my own…

…they had already seen the War. They had already endured the fires of Harvest, five brutal years of hell that crushed any optimism about the reality of this fight. We were outmatched…outgunned…outnumbered…hunted by forces that could darken the sky and scar the earth. That first tour brought any illusions of honor, glory, and heroes that I had to a screeching halt…I nearly died my first engagement, half my platoon slaughtered in a fight that lasted mere minutes. I learned my lesson that day.

In this war there would be no heroes, there would only be survivors.

I learned quickly, I grew to know the enemy…their strengths…and their weaknesses. I would never allow a drop of my soldiers' blood to fall again without making the Enemy pay dearly for every red stain. And so I fought on, across a dozen worlds and a hundred battles I fought, but in the end…we failed…I failed.

We couldn't stop them. Even as we stood firm on the ground, our Enemy stole the sky. The Navy could only do so much…only lose so much. We saved as many as we could…but we always left so many behind.

Their friends and family could only watch as their homes and lives turned to glass and ash under the fires of the Enemy's beams. The only home many of them knew…gone.

It was four years after I shipped out before I saw you again. Pure chance brought us together as my ship made a stop to repair and resupply from a fight now forgotten. I quickly took the opportunity. I found you. I found you still waiting. I told you of what was…what was coming. I begged you to leave…to run to the Inner Colonies where you would be safe…but you refused. You said you belonged there. You couldn't leave your family. You said that We could protect you.

My heart burned with angry desperation. I pleaded, I yelled, I screamed…knowing the truth and trying to make you see it too and yet you still wouldn't go. With one final whisper you answer was given, and I left without another word, pausing only for a moment to hear you say that you would wait…and to see the unfallen tears that glistened in your eyes.

The ship left the next day.

Another year passed…then the words I prayed that I would never hear were spoken.

My home…Our home was under attack.

My ship arrived soon after, joined by a half-a-dozen of her sisters and two top-of-the-line cruisers.

What we found was a world under siege.

The Navy defenders had been lost with all hands. The Army and Marine garrison was depleted and scattered…they couldn't hold much longer, but what dominated our sight and thoughts were the six Enemy battlecruisers floating serenely above the carnage, the wreckage of one their sisters intermixed with that of the Navy's fallen.

The battlegroup captain knew that he couldn't win…he could only buy time. We were told to go to ground…to save as many as we could even though we could only save a few. But even through all the chaos and orders and frantic preparation…

…I remembered you.

I begged my CO to send me there, to let me find you wherever you may be. He let me go. The drop went by quickly. We hit the ground running. We moved forward. I headed home.

The world I knew was gone. The streets were littered with corpses and wreckage, the beautiful homes were reduced to burned out shells, our school…the playground where we grew so long ago…was twisted into a mass of melted metal and flesh. It made me go faster, ignoring the frantic shouts of teammates and friends. I had to find you.

I was lucky that day. The Enemy had long since passed on…but I still held out hope that you could be found. So I ran…past the hulks of broken tanks…past the dead of both Theirs and Ours…until I came upon my destination, the shell of your former home.

The door was already bashed open, two Grunts lying just inside. Hope grew at the evidence of your resistance, I thought you could have survived…

I should have known better.

Our Enemy was ruthless…efficient…and I knew…we all knew that we were never fast enough.

I found you. Your body lay where it had fallen, another Grunt dead at your feet. A large black burn coated the center of your chest, the charred flesh and burned smell evidence of the shot that ended your life. I can't remember how long I spent there, how long I spent by your side, staring into those once so vibrant eyes praying that I would see them shine again…that I could talk to you again…that I could say I'm sorry.

My sobs and silent cries went on until the others found me. My men knew the pain I felt, many had lost everything to the Enemy. They knew what I needed to do. They let me stay. They let me grieve.

I couldn't stay forever. I knew I couldn't…but I couldn't leave you behind…and I knew I couldn't take you with me. So when one of the others picked me up and gently pushed me away…

I let you go.

We did what we had to do. We didn't find many…Jimmy's wife and kids hidden in a house across the street, Doctor Blackthorn buried under the ruins of his shattered office, Mrs. Vicki huddled in her attic…

We stayed as long as we could…but then we had to go. The reddening sky told us what was to come. We had seen it before. I gave one last tear-stained look at the world of my youth…at the home we once shared, before being torn away by the closing of the dropship's door.

We made it back just in time.

Four frigates…one cruiser…five thousand lives paid in order to buy the time we needed to save such a pitiful few…a few hundred souls who had the luck and skill to last until we found them. The Navy commander ordered a full retreat. More enemy ships had entered the system to begin their fiery purge…there was nothing we could do.

I stared out a viewport window, catching one last glimpse of the home I once knew as the bright blue beams began to turn the earth red. I remembered the innocence of our youth, the laughter and games, the teasing and stories that drew us together, but even as I promised myself vengeance in retribution for what They had done I couldn't shake the truth that festered like a cancer in my heart.

I had failed.

I wasn't fast enough.

I couldn't keep you safe.

And now all I could do was watch as our world burned.

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**Hope you all like it!**


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